​Behavioral Health MattersMany of the children, teens, adults and families we work with have experienced incredible challenges and trauma in their lives. As a consequence, their academics, relationships, and work are negatively impacted. With language and financial barriers as well as cultural stigmas, their mental health needs are often unmet. For 20 years, APA has been providing community-based behavioral counseling health services to our clients. We are dedicated to offer culturally sensitive individual and group therapy to help clients manage difficult feelings, so they can attend to their lives in healthier, more productive, and successful ways.

Staffed by interns, licensed eligible, and licensed clinicians, we provided services to low income individuals and families in Chinatown since 1988. In 2012, we opened our family center, Visitacion Valley Strong Families, and these services became available to the Visitacion Valley community.

Here’s how we are helping: J, a 12-year-old boy, is referred to us for aggressive behavior with his peers and struggles with self-regulating under distress. He lives in Visitacion Valley with his parents and 3 older siblings. J has been using clay to play out stories he narrates displaying themes of safety, danger, group belonging, power and influence. Our Behavioral Health Program intern provides support to J for identifying his emotions through reflection and naming, as well as non-judgmental curiosity inquiring about parts of his story. Over a 5-month period, J has been able to make connections between emotions, thoughts, and actions. Many of his peer relations have since improved and he’s getting into less fights.

Internship opportunityAPA’s Behavioral Health Program trains selected practicum students to learn the foundational concepts of offering therapeutic services. The scope ranges from assessment, treatment planning, documentation, crisis intervention, collaborating with a multidisciplinary team, individual and group therapy, and talk and play therapy. Our training program specifically focuses on guiding practicum students to utilize multicultural, psychodynamic, relational, and trauma informed concepts to provide therapeutic services.

With a 15-year history, our internship/practicum student program continues to train graduate students from SFSU, SJSU, Golden Gate University, Cal State East Bay, and California Institute of Integral Sciences who are working toward their Masters in Social Work, Counseling, and Marriage Family Therapy. In the past, clinical supervisions have been provided by our consultant with limited hours.

In 2017, we were able to expand our team and recruited a licensed psychologist. We are now able to provide supervision by our own staff. However there has not been stable funding to support this program, including its staffing.

Where are our interns/practicum students now? They have found employment at sister CBO agencies such as AHS, RAMS, CCDC, NEMS; San Francisco Department of Public Health; social workers at various county hospitals; public and private schools throughout the Bay Area (Contra Costa, Alameda, San Mateo, Santa Clara); social workers or counselors in the Department of Social, Health and Human Services of different counties. Some have started private practices.

Service locations, capacityWe provide individual and group therapy at Visitacion Valley Elementary and Middle School. Participants of the groups are referred by school social worker or teachers and are observed to have difficulties in socialization. The focus of the group includes emotional self-awareness, impulsive behaviors, social skills, and managing friendships etc. The purpose of the group is to provide a platform for the students to express themselves and socialize with their peers.

Individual, couple, and family therapy are available at our centers (1099 Sunnydale Ave., 50 Raymond Ave., and 10 Nottingham Place). Most common presenting issues that we have encountered include trauma from domestic and community violence, depression, socialization impairment, self-harming, eating disorder, and adjustment disorder etc. We specifically offer therapeutic support to strengthen caring relationships and increase emotional / behavioral well-being. We use evidence based therapeutic interventions as it fits within the individual’s and family’s cultural context.

We don’t have the capacity to meet the demands in the community and currently there is a wait list. Our Behavioral Health Program needs support to build capacity for the communities that we serve.